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Mystery and crime anthologies open for submissions

Themed crime, mystery, cozy and noir anthology calls taking short stories now or opening soon, sorted by deadline.

Updated Nov 1, 2026. Every entry below was checked by hand against the organizer’s own page on the date shown. Deadlines, fees and terms change, so always confirm on the official page before you submit or pay anything.

Open and upcoming crime and mystery anthology calls

• Stitching Up Death (cozy anthology) (official page) (Camden Park Press): deadline Nov 15, 2026 — Extended from Oct 31, 2026; no entry fee; Royalty share via PayPal; length: 6,000–8,000. Contemporary cozy with an amateur sleuth in a fiber-arts/crafting setting. Reprints published before Jan 1, 2022 accepted. Release late Jan 2027. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
• Black Beacon Books – Lighthouses 2 (official page) (Black Beacon Books): deadline Nov 30, 2026; no entry fee; $30 + one print copy; length: 3,000–9,000 preferred. Dark tales of mystery, suspense or horror set in a lighthouse. One story per anthology; simultaneous subs OK; no reprints; no AI. Email submission; no rejection notices. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
• Ominous Thrill – Valentine's 2027 spicy horror/thriller (official page) (Ominous Thrill (audio fiction anthology)): deadline Dec 15, 2026; no entry fee; 5¢/word originals; 2¢/word reprints; length: 2,000–6,000 (up to 8,000). Adult, sexy dark-feminist horror/thrillers for audio drama; first person preferred. No rejections sent. Checked Oct 28, 2026.
• Secrets Worth Killing For (espionage crime anthology) (official page) (Crimson Gate Books (eds. Joe Goldberg & A.C. Frieden)): deadline Dec 15, 2026; no entry fee; Compensation set in the contributor agreement (amount not published); length: 5,500–7,500. Original espionage crime fiction (intelligence, covert ops, false identities, betrayal). Not cozy or paranormal; no AI. Reviewed on a rolling basis; 15–20 authors. Guidelines PDF linked from the submissions page. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
• Behind the Tape: Urban Crime Thriller Stories (official page) (Twisted Dreams Press): deadline Dec 31, 2026; no entry fee; One digital contributor copy (author-copy discount); length: 2,000–10,000. Hard-boiled detectives, corrupt cops, gangsters. Publishes 2027. Email submission. Checked Oct 28, 2026.
• Crime Without Corpses (official page) (Level Best Books (ed. Gabriel Valjan)): deadline Dec 31, 2026; no entry fee; $25–50 (depends on number of stories chosen); length: 2,000–5,000. Original, unpublished crime fiction with high stakes but NO homicide. Any subgenre. Projected publication fall 2027. Checked Oct 28, 2026.
• Dirty Martini: Fem Horror Noir Anthology (official page) (Grimalkin Press): deadline Dec 31, 2026; no entry fee; 8¢/word + 1 print copy (US) or ebook (outside US); length: 1,000–5,000. Feminist noir with horror elements. No stock femme fatales or damsels in distress. No reprints; simultaneous subs OK. Email [email protected]. Checked Oct 28, 2026.
• SinC Desert Sleuths 2027 Anthology – SOWEST: Extreme Elements (official page) (Sisters in Crime Desert Sleuths Chapter): deadline Jan 8, 2027 — Closes 5 p.m. MST; no entry fee (chapter membership required); $25 or two print copies; length: Up to 5,000. Members only: Desert Sleuths + SinC memberships must have been active before Oct 1, 2026. Arizona-set crime/mystery with an 'extreme elements' theme. Up to two unpublished stories; blind judging; no generative AI. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
• Lone Star Lawbreakers (SinC North Dallas Anthology Vol. 6) (official page) (Sisters in Crime North Dallas): deadline Jan 31, 2027 — Closes 12 p.m. (noon) Central; fee: None stated (SinC + SinC North Dallas membership required); No author pay stated; any advances and royalties accrue to the chapter; length: 4,500–6,000. Members of national Sisters in Crime and SinC North Dallas only. Mystery story set in the Dallas/Fort Worth area; entirely fictional, unpublished; one story per person. No graphic violence or explicit sex. Blind judging; .doc by email. Checked Oct 30, 2026.
• The Fifth Black Beacon Book of Mystery (official page) (Black Beacon Books): deadline Feb 28, 2027 — Opens Jan 1, 2027; no entry fee; $30 + one print copy; length: 3,000–9,000 preferred. Fair-play detective puzzles with clues, red herrings and a final reveal. No supernatural; no crime stories without a mystery to solve. One story; no AI. Publication Dec 2027. Checked Oct 27, 2026.
• The Killing Spree (Dragon Soul Press anthology) (official page) (Dragon Soul Press): deadline Mar 31, 2027 — Publication planned June 23, 2027; no extensions; fee: None stated; 30% royalties for the first year from publication (per the publisher's guidelines checklist); length: 3,000–20,000. Rated R anthology: any story with murder, crime, mystery, suspense or thriller. Up to two submissions per author; reprints accepted if you hold full rights. Query/summary, third-person bio (100–150 words) and DOC/DOCX by email. Checked Oct 30, 2026.

Recurring anthology calls to watch

• Bouchercon anthology: the convention publishes a themed anthology each year. The Bouchercon 2027 call (“Power Corrupts”) closed October 1, 2026.
• Malice Domestic anthology: traditional mysteries. The most recent call (Mystery Most Musical) ran June 1 – July 31, 2026.
• Best New England Crime Stories: the Al Blanchard Award winner is published in it, and the award page says stories can go to the anthology as well.

Questions writers ask

Which mystery anthologies are open for submissions now?

This page lists 11 crime and mystery anthology calls that were open or opening soon when checked, with deadlines from late 2026 into 2027. They include cozy, fair-play detective, noir, urban crime, espionage and no-murder themes.

Do crime anthologies pay?

Most calls here pay something. Pay ranges from 8 cents a word (Dirty Martini) to flat fees of $25–$50, royalty shares or contributor copies. Each listing states the pay.

Can I send the same story to more than one anthology?

It depends on the call. Some allow simultaneous submissions and some forbid them, so check each call's rules before you send.

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